Contents

Character

Black is a young man who aspires to be the Champion of the Unova Pokémon League. He has been dreaming of this since childhood, nine years to be exact. However, these dreams fill his head to the point where he cannot think about anything else and any attempts to cause him to pass out from mental exhaustion. With his Munna, Black can have him eat his dreams, which he refers to turning his mind from "blank white" to "solid black". Doing this allows him to think much more clearly, become smarter, and improve perception. Also, when he does this, he apparently sees in hexagons. Because of his dreams causing him to forget about other things, Black has the tendency to do things without considering the consequences of his actions and their effects on other people. As the series goes on, Black slowly begins to consider the feelings of others and even manages to be able to think about other things for brief periods of time.

He has been described as "hot blooded" by several characters due to his loud nature and tendency to do things on his own. He doesn't understand show business like White does and many aspects of it surprise him, such as Gigi and Tep getting to stay in a hotel room while he and White have to camp out. He is very familiar with libraries and went there frequently as a child, allowing him to complete Lenora's Gym puzzle very quickly, setting a new record in the process. Black's tendency to dream also causes him to miss the things happening around him, such as when he completely forgot his promise with his friends Cheren and Bianca once he received the package holding the Pokémon and Pokédexes they were going to receive.

History

Black is first seen waiting for a package that is being delivered to his house after waiting all night in the rain. After receiving the package from a mailman, he immediately opens it and finds three Pokémon, Oshawott, Tepig, and Snivy, and three Pokédexes inside. He jumps in glee and accidentally releases the Pokémon from their Poké Balls after his cold causes him to sneeze and drop the box. The three Pokémon quickly get into a fight and Tepig runs off while Black follows it.

He eventually finds Tepig on a tree being attacked by an unknown Pokémon. Using his deduction skills, he has his Munna, Musha, eat his dreams, allowing him to find out the attacking Pokémon. Using his abilities, Black and the Tepig defeat the Pokémon, a Sewaddle. Black is able to convince the Tepig to go with him and they set off to start their journey. Before leaving, Black flies to a library to find out the evolved form of Tepig so he can think of a proper name for him. Tepig, mistaking that Black isn't happy with his current form, runs off; Black follows him once more. Black finds Tepig in a cave, sulking and after trying to get him to calm down, accidentally causes a wild Woobat to attack them. Black manages to get Tepig to defeat the Woobat and decides to name him "Tep" instead of a name based on his final form; the two then set off to finally start their adventure.

On Route 1, Black meets Hiker Andy and defeats him in his first Battle. Black finds out that Andy used to have the same dreams as he does, to beat the Pokémon League, but because of his weakness to heat, he had to give up. After putting out a fire, Black manages to convince the Hiker to restart his journey, even letting him join in his morning routine.

Black, Bianca, and Cheren in their first Gym battle

Later, when doing his normal routine, Black inadvertently interrupts an Xtransceiver commercial shooting. He meets White, the representative of the BW Agency and she tries to convince him to help her by letting his male Tepig, Tep, be partnered with her female Tepig, Gigi, in a movie shooting. Suddenly, five crew members are knocked unconscious and Black is suspected of being the attacker. Black proves his innocence by finding the real culprit, a Galvantula, and defeating it. Black is then pointed out that he, in the process of defeating the Galvantula, destroyed all the camera equipment. He is prevented from getting in trouble for this by White who claims they just hired him and puts the cost for all the damages on the BW Agency. Black is forced to help White till he pays off his debt, fifty paychecks worth of commercials. He now refers to her as "Boss".

The night after, Black and White camp outside and are attacked by an unseen Pokémon. Using his abilities, Black finds out that the Pokémon attacking them is a Timburr that is helping a group of people in knight uniforms known as Team Plasma build a stage. The next day, Black and White witness one of Team Plasma's "sages", Ghetsis, make a speech that causes the people around them to start releasing their Pokémon.

Black reciting his pledge

Enraged, Black goes to try to stop Ghetsis from making any more speeches only to be stopped by a young man named N who has the ability to understand Pokémon by listening to their hearts. Black and N battle each other, only for Black to suffer a painful defeat while N uses the opportunity to listen to the hearts of Black's Pokémon to see if Pokémon and humans can truly be together.

Later, Black and White travel to Striaton City so Black can compete in his first Gym battle. There, he encounters Cheren and Bianca who are furious at him for leaving without them and breaking their Pokédexes, leaving his as the only working one. Their fighting causes the Gym Leaders to allow Cheren and Bianca to join the Gym battle along with Black. Together, they traverse through the Gym and face off against the Gym Leaders and succeed in defeating all three of them. After winning, Black apologizes to Cheren and Bianca by giving them a pair of Xtransceivers so they can keep in touch.

Later, while traveling to the next town, Black is attacked by an unseen Pokémon after Musha flies off. He wakes up inside of the laboratory of Fennel, a Professor researching Pokémon Trainers and powers that dreams possess. They decide to go look for the runaway Musha and Fennel decides to join them after learning that Musha is a Pokémon that can help with her research. They go to the Dreamyard and find Musha being held captive by some Team Plasma Grunts. Black faces the Grunts in battle and manages to defeat them and regain Musha. After Fennel obtains some Dream Mist for her research, Black and White say their goodbyes.

Black and White soon arrive in Nacrene City to do BW Agency advertising. After dealing with a pair of trouble-making Pokémon, Black goes to the Nacrene Gym to battle its Gym Leader, Lenora. Despite her powerful Pokémon and smart tactics, Black manages to defeat Lenora, winning the Basic Badge in the process.

Having finished everything they needed to do in Nacrene, a frustrated Black attempts to go to the next town but White keeps going into the various stores in town. They soon see Lenora's husband, Hawes, running around in terror because someone had stolen the Dragon-type Pokémon Fossil at the museum. After using Musha to find clues, Black encounters the Gym Leader Burgh as he tries to find the thieves. With Burgh's help, Black defeats the Team Plasma members that stole the Fossil and gives it back to the museum. Afterwards, Black and Burgh say their goodbyes and promise to meet again in Castelia City for his Gym battle.

After going through Pinwheel Forest, Black and White are attacked by an unseen Pokémon. After meeting the president of the Battle Company, Geoff, they find out the attacker was the legendary Pokémon Virizion. Upon arriving in Castelia City, Black and Tep encounter a lost boy crying inside of a building. Black leaves Tep to watch the child while he finds someone to help him. Unbeknownst to Black, the boy is actually a mischievous Zorua in disguise that wreaks havoc throughout the city while Tep chases after it. Eventually, the Zorua escapes, while Black has no idea what really happened while he was away.

After doing more sightseeing, Black is informed by White that he has paid over half of what he owes to her and she intends to pay for his expenses as long as he advertises the BW Agency. After Black accepts, he notices that Tep is about to evolve, an action White refuses due to the possibility that it might affect Tep and Gigi's popularity and hurt sales.

Black then goes to have his Gym battle against Burgh and quickly maneuvers through the Gym's honey walls and faces the Gym Leader in battle. Despite remembering White's protests, Black allows Tep to battle in the Gym, Tep evolving in the process and defeating Burgh's Dwebble and winning the battle for Black. After Black beats Burgh, Iris arrives with an unconscious Bianca who had her Pokémon stolen from her. Using Musha, Black finds the thieves—Team Plasma—and rescues Bianca's stolen Litwick from them. Afterwards, Black decides to rename Tep "Nite" since he evolved into a Pignite.

Upon the request of Professor Juniper, Black and White go to Liberty Garden to investigate a Pokémon called Victini. Using Musha, Black finds an injured Victini being chased by three members of Team Plasma, who claim to be trying to protect it from any potential attackers. With Victini's assistance, Black defeats the Team Plasma members and drives them away, allowing Victini to leave and move about freely.

Later, Black and White travel to the Desert Resort on their way to Nimbasa City. Due to the powerful sandstorm, Black is forced to wait until White comes back with clothes that will allow them to move about the sandstorm unharmed. As he waits, Black meets Grimsley, one of the Unova Elite Four. Together, they uncover a Team Plasma Grunt sneaking around the area and capture him. Later, Grimsley gives Black the option of battling him at the cost of his hard-earned Gym Badges.

Although Black wanted to battle Grimsley, the thought of losing his Badges if he loses the fight causes him to faint by exhausting his mind. Black later awakens in Nimbasa City, having been taken there by White on Brav's back. Black witnesses White put on the newest tourist attraction for Nimbasa City, the Pokémon Musical, and is shocked to see her skills in management. There, Black meets Elesa, the Nimbasa Gym Leader, who tells him to wait until they start their Gym battle.

After the Musical ends, Black and Elesa go to the Nimbasa Gym, where they begin their battle. During the battle, Black gets stuck on the Gym's roller coaster cars, but he decides to continue battling despite being trapped inside. With the help of Tula, Musha, and Nite, Black defeats Elesa and earns the Bolt Badge. Before he can get his Badge, Black is sent to the roof of the Gym, where he encounters the legendary Pokémon, Thundurus. Thundurus quickly shocks Black, freeing him from the roller coaster's car.

Later, Black searches for White, who had gone missing. He quickly finds her being held in the arms of an older man, unconscious. Black immediately attacks the man to try and rescue White, but is easily defeated. He soon finds out that the man is Marshal, one of the Unova Elite Four, who had found White unconscious near the Rondez-View Ferris Wheel. Black takes White off Marshal's hands and takes White to the hospital.

Later, White awakens in the hospital and reveals that earlier, she was attacked at the Ferris Wheel by N, who convinced Gigi to join his side. Angry, Black tries to get answers from the Servine N gave to White, but is outsmarted at every turn. After getting out of the hospital, Black and White meet Baker Chris, who reveals to them about the Battle Subway, another recent Nimbasa tourist attraction. They go to the Battle Subway, where they find Marshal battling the Unova Champion, Alder.

Learning about the Battle Subway gives White the idea to try and learn to battle by testing it out for the mayor. As she tries to capture her first Pokémon, Black helps White by capturing a wild Tirtouga as a demonstration. Later, Black learns that the Tirtouga was Marshal's, but was released due to it being hard to control for him. At the Battle Subway, Black and White are forced to separate with each other, but Black lends White his Brav so that she will have three Pokémon to battle with.

As Black prepares to head to Driftveil City, he finds out that the Driftveil Drawbridge is stuck, preventing anyone from crossing it. After getting help from Elesa, Black manages to cross the bridge, only to find the culprit who messed with the bridge, a wild Zorua, harassing him. Using its Illusion Ability, Zorua manages to confuse Black, but it is eventually defeated and runs away. Afterward, Black meets Clay, the Driftveil Gym Leader, who explains that the Zorua had been causing trouble for him.

Upon arriving at Driftveil City, Black meets up with Cheren again. There, Cheren gets his Snivy stolen by Team Plasma, forcing the two to try and get it back. They go to the Cold Storage, where they fight the Team Plasma Grunts that stole Snivy. With the moves they taught their Pokémon at the Move Tutor, Black and Cheren manage to defeat the Grunts.

Later, Black goes to the Driftveil Gym to get his next Gym Badge, but finds out that Clay has closed the building because of his bad mood. As he waits for the Gym to reopen, Black tries to get his Tirtouga to listen to him, but it refuses to listen to his commands. Later, when the Gym opens up again, Black clears the challenge and meets up with Clay again. Clay tells Black that his Tirtouga will evolve into a Carracosta, giving Black the idea to name it "Goura."

Clay also states that he heard about Black from the other Gym Leaders, who gave praise to the boy. Clay reveals that earlier, he dug up a mysterious stone at Twist Mountain. When Black asks him about this, Clay reveals that the stone is the Dark Stone, also known as one of Unova's legendary Pokémon, Zekrom. Clay promises to tell Black more about it if he can defeat him in battle. Although Clay's team proves to be strong, Black manages to defeat all of Clay's Pokémon, giving him the victory.

Defeated, Clay reveals to Black that Lenora had been spied upon by Team Plasma, who they believe is aiming to steal the Dark Stone. Clay also reveals that the other Gym Leaders know about this and have decided to gather together and face Team Plasma to prevent them from stealing the Dark Stone. They travel to Mistralton City where they meet up with Burgh, Elesa, Skyla, and Brycen and prepare to wait for Lenora's signal. As they wait, Skyla takes Black to the Celestial Tower and forces him to ring the bell so that she could determine whether or not Black is good enough to help them.

Dissatisfied with the sound of the bell's ringing, Skyla pushes Black off of the tower and takes him to the Mistralton Gym for a Gym battle. Due to Clay's warning that because of Team Plasma's actions, the League may be cancelled this year, Black's ability to battle wanes due to him being stressed out. Black decides to take his stress and use it to face Team Plasma. After giving some encouragement to his team, Black defeats Skyla, earning him the Jet Badge. Skyla takes off with the other Gym Leaders to Nacrene City and has Black come along with them.

After arriving, Black is tasked with finding the Dark Stone while the Gym Leaders face the Shadow Triad. After defeating the Plasma Grunts inside the museum, a loud rumbling noise leads Black outside to investigate it. Much to his shock, the Shadow Triad have revealed that they have captured the legendary Pokémon Tornadus, Thundurus, and Landorus. The three Pokémon quickly overpower the Gym Leaders and knock them out. Despite Clay's protests, Black and his newly-evolved Nite try to save them, only to be easily swatted away.

Although defeated, Lenora reveals that the battle destroyed the only key to where the Dark Stone is kept, which means that the Shadow Triad can't get the stone. Despite this, the Shadow Triad take the defeated Gym Leaders away while Black is forced to watch. However, he quickly finds out that Brycen managed to escape and has come to help him. Black, realizing that he already knows where the Dark Stone is being kept, takes Brycen to where he fought Lenora previously and finds the Dark Stone hidden there.

Although happy to have found the Dark Stone, Black is attacked by Ghetsis, revealing that the Brycen that had escaped earlier was a Plasma Grunt in disguise. Black is knocked unconscious, while Ghetsis takes the Dark Stone to N so that it can be revived into Zekrom. Later, Black is found by the real Brycen, who actually managed to escape from the Shadow Triad.

Brycen calls Drayden and informs him of what had happened. They reveal that the Light Stone, which holds the other Dragon-type of Unova, Reshiram, was in the same location as the Dark Stone the entire time. The Light Stone quickly rolls over to Black and chooses him as the hero destined to awaken it. Brycen decides that Black will need to become stronger for future battles and he takes the unconscious boy to begin training.

Pokémon

With the exception of Buoh, who was originally named Tep as a Tepig, all of Black's Pokémon are named based on their final evolutionary form.

On hand

Brav ♂

Brav (Jp: ウォーWarr) is the very first Pokémon that Black caught. Black, as a child, first encountered Brav as a Rufflet after Bianca accidentally stepped on his food, angering the Eaglet Pokémon into attacking her. After a fierce battle, Black managed to capture Brav with the help of Musha. In addition to being a strong battler, Brav a powerful flier and is capable of lifting his Trainer into the sky with ease. Brav was lent to White while she participated in the Battle Subway but was later returned to Black after she came back.

Musha (Jp: ムシャMusha) is also one of Black's first Pokémon and the second he caught. Due to Black having so many dreams about conquering the Pokémon League, he can't think straight, but with Musha's ability to eat dreams, Black can "blank" his "black" mind to focus and sense things normal humans can't.

After a battle with N, Musha was revealed to have only followed Black's orders because his dreams tasted good to him and kept him fed. After the taste of Black's dreams changed over the course of his adventure to Musha's distaste, Musha decides to leave Black. Later, he returned to Black, now evolved into a Musharna.

Buoh (Jp: ブオウBuoh), previously Nite (Jp: チャオChao), and Tep (Jp: ポカPoka), is a Pokémon Black acquired from Professor Juniper. He is a very playful Pokémon, as evident when he releases White's Gigi from her Poké Ball. In battle, Buoh is powerful, has quick reflexes, and can use his flames to show hidden objects along with attacking opponents. He is shown to protect White's Gigi whenever he is in battle, similar to how Black protects White.

Tula (Jp: チュラTula) is the fourth Pokémon on Black's team. Black caught Tula after he attacked the recording of a Xtransceiver advertisement. With Musha's help, Black was able to deduce the culprit, and used Buoh to defeat and capture him. After an encounter with Team Plasma, Black was able to figure out that Tula was a Pokémon originally owned by a Trainer but was released into the wild because his Trainer was swayed by Ghetsis's speeches.

Black captured Goura (Jp: ゴーラGoura) in Nimbasa City when he was teaching White how to capture Pokémon. According to Marshal, Goura belonged to him but he released it the day before Black caught it because it was stubborn and would not listen to him. Due to not being used to battling, Goura would not listen to any of Black's commands. In Black's Gym battle against Brycen, Goura evolved into a Carracosta and managed to defeat his Beartic, giving Black the win.

Reshiram is a Pokémon trapped in the form of the Light Stone. Initially, it was held in Lenora's Gym along with Zekrom's Dark Stone. After the Shadow Triad stole the Dark Stone from the Nacrene Gym, the Light Stone rolled towards an unconscious Black, having chosen him as the hero to wield it. Brycen took the Light Stone and Black to Icirrus City to train him and make him able to wield Reshiram's power. After Black defeated Brycen in their Gym battle, Brycen entrusted the Light Stone to Black.

When Black found N in a battle against Alder, Reshiram felt the presence of N's Zekrom, causing it to be released from the Light Stone. However, with a glare from Zekrom, Reshiram returned to its Stone, indicating Black's inability to control it. After winning the Unova League tournament, Black's resolve to defeat Team Plasma finally allowed Reshiram to be fully released from the Light Stone.

Trivia

Out of all the Pokédex holders who nickname their Pokémon, Black is the only one whose nicknames are based on the names of the Pokémon they fully evolve into. The only exception was Buoh, which was nicknamed Tep as a Tepig and was later changed to Nite when it evolved into Pignite, and changed again to Buoh when it evolved into Emboar.